1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to communications between short range wireless devices such as Bluetooth-enabled devices and, more particularly, to computer software, hardware, and computer-based methods for allowing short range wireless devices to communicate over digital communication networks such as the Internet such as may significantly increase the range of such devices and allow users to have voice communications or chats with other users of short range wireless devices. The present invention is also related to proximity marketing methods and systems.
2. Relevant Background
Proximity marketing allows companies to distribute advertising contents associated with a particular place using localized wireless communication technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, GSM, or the like. Transmissions can be received by individuals near the store or locale associated with the advertising who have indicated that they wish to receive the contents and have the equipment necessary such as a Bluetooth-enabled cellular phone (cell phone) or other electronic devices such as a computer, a wireless game console, or the like. The location of a user's wireless device may be determined by the cell phone being in a particular cell, a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, or other communication protocol-enabled device being within range of a transmitter supporting that protocol, an Internet-enabled device with GPS (Global Positioning System) technology enabling it to request localized contents from Internet servers, or the like. Proximity marketing may be used to distribute contents in a variety of media (such as video, sound, text, and so on).
In the proximity marketing space, there are systems of solutions that assist owners (e.g., store owners, sporting event center owners, and the like) to disseminate rich media (e.g., video, pictures, sounds, texts, business cards, and the like) content to the wireless devices in the proximity or area about their store or facility via the use of technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and other short-range communication techniques. In some applications of proximity marketing, a general strategy involves networking or linking together a web of users in the proximity of an advertiser so that the media contents received by the targeted devices may be further disseminated to others who are linked or associated with those who directly receive the marketing messages or contents, and this strategy or method is known as viral marketing.
By targeting the devices in the proximity of the systems deployed, the media owners or parties associated with the advertising intend to share some marketing messages with the various owners of the devices in the proximity. In places where the public congregate, which may be the stores of the retailers or the wholesalers, theatres, cinemas, shopping malls, museums, airports, train or bus stations, exhibition centers, and the like, the public in the proximity of the systems may be invited to participate in some forms of marketing campaigns by the media owners. Through such marketing campaigns, the public who opt in to participate may receive marketing brochures, catalogues, discount offers, or product information packs in the form of digital files. Such files are sent by the systems via such technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, GSM, 3 G, or the like. Such a form of rich media advertising allows the recipients to carry with them the marketing contents received in their own devices.
In so doing, the owners of the targeted devices become aware of the presence of the brands and the presence and nearby location of the media owners (e.g., to buy clothes at a nearby store, to see a show at the theatre around the corner, to eat at a particular restaurant, and so on). Such situational awareness of the brands and the rich media contents may be used to direct the flow of traffic of the visiting or passing-by crowd towards the enterprises and/or the premises of the branded products/services or the media owners/advertisers. Through the creative use of the proximity marketing systems, the flow of the passing-by crowd may be redirected so as to help generate a positive flow of traffic of potential customers towards the premises and/or the enterprises. Unfortunately, the flow of such traffic may be short-lived (e.g., the effectiveness of proximity marketing may decline over time) because the passing-by crowd of the potential customers may grow impatient and/or indifferent about the presence of such media contents (e.g., users may ignore or not notice additional advertising or may quickly delete the contents from their wireless device).
Hence, users and creators of proximity marketing: are continuously looking for better ways to not only identify a target audience of potential buyers or clients for contents but also ways to attract potential customers to a locale and to link the potential customers so as to cause the advertising to be spread (e.g., to like-minded shoppers, people with similar demographics, and the like to support viral marketing and cause the advertising or content distribution to be more effective and far reaching).